Synthesis and Characterization of CuO Rods for Enhanced Visible Light Driven Dye Degradation

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Environmental Chemistry

Background:

• Copper oxide (CuO) is a versatile material with applications in catalysis and environmental remediation.
• Developing efficient synthesis methods for nanostructured CuO is crucial for enhancing its performance.
• Photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants is a key area of environmental research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report a simple and efficient method for synthesizing CuO rods.
• To characterize the structural and morphological properties of the synthesized CuO rods.
• To evaluate the photocatalytic activity of CuO rods for methylene blue dye degradation.

Main Methods:

• Hydrothermal synthesis using copper acetate, hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA), and sodium hydroxide (NaOH).
• Calcination of the synthesized material.
• Characterization using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Visible Spectroscopy, and Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDS).
• Photocatalytic degradation experiments using methylene blue (MB) dye under visible light.

Main Results:

• Successfully synthesized high-density CuO rods (2-4 μm thick, several micrometers long) via a hydrothermal process followed by calcination.
• Characterization confirmed the formation of highly crystalline, single-phase pure CuO rods with monoclinic structures.
• The synthesized CuO rods demonstrated significant photocatalytic activity, degrading ~70% of methylene blue dye in 100 minutes under visible light illumination.
• The degradation followed first-order reaction kinetics with a rate constant (k) of 0.01123 min⁻¹ and R² = 0.9880.

Conclusions:

• A facile and effective hydrothermal method was established for producing nanostructured CuO rods.
• The synthesized CuO rods exhibit excellent crystallinity and purity, suitable for photocatalytic applications.
• The CuO rods show promising efficiency in degrading methylene blue dye under visible light, indicating potential for wastewater treatment.